Act Daily News
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South African prosecutors have dropped a homicide cost in opposition to Zolile Sekeleni, the daddy of the girlfriend of high-profile convicted assassin Thabo Bester, who’s accused of escaping from a South African jail after faking his personal dying in a fireplace, officers instructed Act Daily News Monday.
Sekeleni’s daughter, Nandipha Magudumana, a outstanding medical physician and character in South Africa was arrested on April 7 whereas on the run in Tanzania with Bester.
Dubbed “The Facebook rapist” in South Africa, Bester was serving a life sentence for the homicide and rape of a mannequin in 2012.
Bester, 35, allegedly faked his dying by inserting the charred stays of one other man in his jail cell, officers stated.
The couple had been arrested with a Mozambican nationwide by Tanzanian authorities final week within the border city of Arusha after fleeing South Africa and was subsequently deported to South Africa.
Magudumana’s father Sekeleni, 65, was arrested on April 8 alongside a former jail warden and a former safety digital camera technician, with the trio accused of being accomplices in Bester’s escape, in keeping with the police and prosecutors.
He had initially been charged with “defeating the ends of justice, fraud, murder, and arson,” however that has now been dropped, a spokesperson for South Africa’s National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), Phaladi Shuping, instructed Act Daily News.
A homicide investigation by authorities had earlier concluded that the burned physique present in Bester’s cell had died earlier than the hearth started.
An post-mortem report additionally discovered that the deceased had died on account of blunt power trauma to the pinnacle.
Shuping stated the homicide cost was dropped in mild of recent proof, however added Sekeleni, a former educator, would face different fees.
“The state will no longer be proceeding with a charge of murder against Zolile Sekeleni because new evidence came forth, which made us take this decision. He will still face charges of assisting an inmate to escape, defeating the ends of justice and fraud,” NPA spokesperson Shuping stated.
He added that “Sekeleni was released on bail of R10,000 ($550) due to compelling circumstances that were considered by the prosecution, relating to his health.”
Sekeleni will make one other look in court docket on May 16, whereas a bail listening to for his daughter Magudumana in addition to different accused shall be held early subsequent month.
Act Daily News has reached out to his and Magudumana’s lawyer for remark.
Magudumana was charged with homicide and fraud, together with aiding and abetting Bester’s escape.
According to police, he faces new fees of escaping from lawful custody, defeating the ends of justice, violation of a useless physique and fraud.
Source: www.cnn.com